Holden Arboretum welcomes public to tour Working Woods Hub - The News-Herald
Published by: The News-Herald
By: Bryson Durst
Original article found here
Whether visitors came to learn about forest management or try root beer sourced from local woods, Holden Arboretum invited the public to its Working Woods Learning Forest.
The Kirtland-based Arboretum held an open house at the Working Woods Hub on Nov. 15. Greeted with warm weather and dry conditions, visitors could go on guided tours of the 67-acre property or stay in the hub to learn more about forest research, management and products.
“Working Woods is a resource hub for the community, and so here we’re sort of displaying some of the different ways that we can support conservation, restoration efforts in the community,” said Holden Forests and Gardens Research Director Katie Stuble.
One focus was to show products that can come from local forests. Besides wooden items like walking sticks, the Arboretum also featured logs that can be used to grow mushrooms and root beer made from local forests.
“Not everybody is going to want to use their woods in the same way,” Stuble said. “Some people are going to want to manage for deer. And some people are going to want to manage for timber production. And some people are going to want to grow shiitake mushrooms or make root beer, right?
“And so it’s showing people the myriad of ways that they can be using their woods so that they’re inspired to take care of it,” she added.
The open house also highlighted the Arboretum’s efforts to research tree diseases like beech leaf disease and hemlock woolly adelgid. Stuble said that beech leaf disease, for instance, kills about 30 percent of beech trees in high-density beech forests.
Holden postdoctoral research assistant Rachel Kappler said that the institution collaborates with groups across the country, including federal, state and university partners.
“Even though we have these problems, research is looking for solutions that can help with their eventual continuation of the trees being within their forest ecosystem,” Kappler said.
Inside the Working Woods Hub, consulting foresters Jessica Miller Mecaskey and Patrick O’Reilly were showing visitors how Holden can help them with forest management.
O’Reilly said that their main service right now is having a forester visit a property, conduct an assessment and then develop a management plan. They typically serve landowners within 30 miles or one hour of the Arboretum, though that is not a hard and fast boundary.
“Holden started a consulting forestry business because we realized that to really fulfill our mission of empowering landowners to steward forests in good ways, the missing piece was actually being able to assist them on their properties with their specific concerns,” Mecaskey said. “And there’s a great need for individualized forestry assistance.”
She said that landowner interests include producing timber and non-timber forest products, providing wildlife habitats or increasing tree vigor.
“We like people to realize the value that’s in their woods,” Mecaskey said.A few tables down, Holden Seed Bank Manager Kim Lessman showed off some of the seeds collected for the bank. It aims to provide native seeds to landowners and organizations who can plant them.
Working Woods Hub Manager Rebecah Troutman said that the idea for the Working Woods Learning Forest started about 2017. Holden Forests and Gardens was awarded a $1.8 million Inflation Reduction Act grant last year to sponsor the program.
“The idea here is really to be a resource for landowners or members of the public who want to learn about forests, hopefully making their own forests more healthy or more resilient or just learning about any sort of those topics – invasive species or tree care, those types of things,” Troutman said.
In addition to the consulting program and the seed bank, she said that the Working Woods hosts a few workshops a year on topics like mushroom log inoculation, woodworking and invasive species. It also hosts offsite events at libraries.
The Working Woods programs reached more than 1,100 people last year, according to a news release.
The site also features interpretive signs and about two miles of recently added trails. The news release added that the structures in the woods were built by a local timber harvester from Holden-harvested wood.
According to testimonials provided by Holden, one landowner from Cuyahoga County said that the classes have helped her as she aims to care for her property and her mother’s property.
A landowner from Kirtland Hills said that Mecaskey visited her property, answered questions and provided a comprehensive report with suggestions for forest management.
“Managing forests for health and resilience has been part of Holden Arboretum’s work for over 90 years,” said Holden Forests and Gardens President and CEO Ed Moydell in the news release. “Working Woods demonstrates how we can share that expertise with the community – equipping landowners with the tools, resources and confidence to care for their forests.”